Oct. 18, 2005
BALTIMORE, MD -- The Johns Hopkins football team jumped from 18th to 15th in this week's American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division III Coaches' Poll, which was released today. The Blue Jays are currently 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the Centennial Conference after last Friday night's 14-0 victory over Gettysburg. The Blue Jays will travel to Muhlenberg (3-3, 2-1 CC) for a showdown with the Mules this Saturday afternoon. Johns Hopkins and Muhlenberg have each grabbed a share of the last three Centennial Conference titles and are the only two teams in the Centennial with winning records in league play.
Johns Hopkins received 321 points in this week's poll to move into the top 15 for the first time this season. The Blue Jays extended their overall winning streak to 10 games with the win over Gettysburg, a streak that ranks as the second-longest in school history. With this week's ranking the Blue Jays have now been ranked in the top 25 a total of 16 times (in 25 weeks) since the start of the 2003 season. The top 20 ranking is the eighth for the Blue Jays during that time and the number 15 ranking is tied for the second-highest in school history. The Blue Jays were ranked a program-best 13th for one week during the 2003 season. Prior to the 2003 season Johns Hopkins had never appeared in the top 25.
Under the guidance of 16th-year head coach Jim Margraff, the Blue Jay football program has enjoyed a great deal of success since 1990. Margraff ranks as the all-time winningest football coach in school history and earned career win number 100 with last week's win over Gettysburg. He now sports a 100-55-3 (.643) record and the 100 games Johns Hopkins has won under Margraff's guidance in 15-plus seasons are five more than Hopkins had won in the previous 23 seasons combined. Since the beginning of the 1995 season, the Blue Jays are 76-31-1 (.708).
AFCA Division III Coaches' Poll ? Through Games of 10-18-05
Rk. School (1st-place votes) (Record-Points)
1. Linfield (OR) (35) (5-0/994)
2. Mount Union (OH) (5) (6-0/961)
3. Rowan (NJ) (6-0/893)
4. Hardin-Simmons (TX) (6-0/877)
5. St. John's (MN) (7-0/841)
6. Wisconsin-Whitewater (6-0/805)
7. Occidental (CA) (5-0/719)
8. Trinity (TX) (5-0/694)
9. Delaware Valley (PA) (6-0/659)
10. Mary Hardin-Baylor (TX) (4-1/524)
11. Hobart (NY) (6-0/454)
12. North Central (IL) (6-0/393)
13. St. John Fisher (NY) (6-1/373)
14. Bridgewater (VA) (4-1/339)
15. Johns Hopkins (6-0/321)
16. Concordia-Moorehead (MN) (5-1/319)
17. Washington & Jefferson (PA) (6-1/308)
18. Monmouth (IL) (7-0/303)
19. Ithaca (NY) (5-1/300)
20. Thiel (PA) (6-0/271)
21. Wabash (IN) (6-0/267)
22. Wisconsin-LaCrosse (3-2/244)
23. Wheaton (IL) (5-1/203)
24. Augustana (IL) (5-1/156)
25. Wesley (DE) (7-0/142)
Others Receiving Votes: Union-112, Ferrum-90, St. Olaf-84, Coe-77, Salisbury-67, Central-52, Trinity-48, Alma-20, Wisconsin-Oshkosh-19, John Carroll-15, Christopher Newport-12, Whitworth-10, McDaniel-9, Wartburg-5, Carthage-5, Capital-3, Washington & Lee-3, Rensselaer-2, St. Norbert-1
